News from Around the Net: 20-JAN-12

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Welcome to the gaming news roundup for the week of 20-JAN-2012!

This week was “one of those” weeks with work, so I’m gleeful that it’s Friday! Yay!

The debate continued this week about “D&D Next” or “D&D 5e” or “Ultimate Fighting D&D With Kung-fu Grip,” so you’ll see a few stories related to that this week. Plus a general assortment of odds-n-ends.

In addition, I was contacted by some new folks publishing gaming materials (perhaps not new, but new to me), so I want to thank Axel from Headless Hydra Games, Kurt from Terminal Studios, Roderick from Dark Tavern Press, and Brandon from Ignitus Innovation, Inc.. Look forward to reviews or news about products from these folks sometime over the next few weeks and months! (If you’re interested in having me review something, news you’d like me to include in my weekly roundup, or are interested in sponsoring these Friday posts, drop me a line at the contact page or drop me an e-mail at news(at)gameknightreviews(dot)com and let’s chat!)

The only other thing I’ll mention before we get going was the SOPA/PIPA outrage this week. I’m not usually a political animal, but SOPA was enough to get me to do something. Though I’m a small blog, I did my part and blacked out the site for part of Wednesday. It seemed that the protest was quite broad across the ‘net, with Wikipedia getting much of the attention in the media. I just hope it was enough to get our lawmakers to open their eyes and consult with technical experts on this. Online piracy is definitely an issue, but there have to better ways of handling it.

Ever wondered about your own alignment on the D&D scale? Apparently David Noonan at the WotC blog did way back in 2000 and I just found it this week. I haven’t managed to get all the way through the questions yet (there are quite a few), but it’s on my bucket list…

Though there’s a ton of speculation in the community about D&D 5e, Mike Shea wonders if maybe WotC would be better served by building a more “modular” version of 4e. Pick a setting, tweak the campaign goals and level range, pick races and classes, and more to focus the rules and the world material towards a particular campaign style and feel. I definitely like a more modular approach but would go further with different rules sets for low magic, high magic, the addition of guns, and other bits and pieces…

If that’s not enough, WotC announced that they will be reprinting the original AD&D books to help support the Gygax Memorial Fund. I’m not sure if the 1st edition of AD&D will be supported in 5e, but I guess we’ll find out as things go forward. I am disappointed that most of the articles about this effort from WotC don’t mention Dave Arneson as well as Gygax though… (Thanks Michael Tresca at the RPG Examiner and others for this story.)

Publisher News

Raging Swan Press just released So What’s the NPC Like, Anyway? this week, written by Creighton Broadhurst himself! Within its few pages you’ll find tables to help you create hundreds of memorable, well-rounded NPCs. Details include notable physical and personality traits, mannerisms, current activity and profession. I’m looking forward to this one myself, as I’m always looking for quick new ways to create unique NPCs on the fly.

I mentioned Dark Tavern Press at the beginning of this post and they’re looking for more backers of their new RPG product – The Shroud of the Ancients, a D5 Role Playing Game created by Randy Miller and Roderick Edwards. The art looks great and the ideas are intriguing – the big hole in the middle of the map for the Lowlands in the World of Terrath is especially curious. I don’t think I’ve seen any worlds with that large a hole in the ground before! Please check it out at their Kickstarter page if you get a chance! They have 11 days left to raise more than $4000 as I write this, so they need the help.

And lastly in the “already mentioned” category is the Mor Aldenn Setting Guide from Headless Hydra Games, which was also added back in December. This campaign guide, written for the Pathfinder RPG, is another
one that looks great off the bat. The map that comes with the PDF is absolutely gorgeous and detailed, which gives me hope the book lives up to its promise!

Along the same lines, I found this page at the Third Eye Games site describing the “3EG Adepts” program, which encourages experts in 3EG products to reach out to new gamers and share their passion for 3EG. What do you get in return? Bragging rights, access to pre-release copies of products for testing, discounts, and more. If WotC doesn’t have something similar for D&D, they might want to investigate such a thing.

Reviews

Interested in some games to take your mind off all that “D&D Next” stuff? Nedjer at Thistle Games has some suggestions… A couple of card games based on Games Workshop’s Space Hulk and the world of vampires and werewolves. Fun!

If you’re interested in WotC’s Book of Vile Darkness supplement for 4e, Mike Shea offers some ideas on how to use it. Though not really a review, he offers a unique spin with some solid details that should be helpful in applying evil with a bit more finesse.